Silent Screams
by Fredikayllow
Summary: While struggling to deal with the events of 'Twilight', Abby's past comes back to haunt her. PostTwilight, AU for Ssn 3Rating for possibly disturbing scenes
1. Chapter 1

**(A/N)** Okay, so my local network only just showed 'Twilight' last week, and I was absolutely devastated.I wanted to write a fanfic because i know it will be ages (if ever) till we get Season 3. I know nthing about Season 3 except for what I read in other fanfics. My version of what happened after Twilight is fairly simply stated in this and other chapters of my story.

I would really love reviews to tell me how I'm doing. I don't expect this story to be good, but any suggestions for improvement would be greatly appreciated. However, this is my first NCIS fic, so please be gentle with your suggestions.

Sorry it's so short.

_Chapter 1._

_Abby glanced around her, trying to figure out where they had all gone. They were here just a moment ago, but now they seemed to have disappeared. "Gibbs? Kate?" she called out to her empty lab. "Tony? Dammit McGee? If you're trying to scare me you're doing a damn good job!" she called, but the only sound greeting her was the echo of her own voice. Her heart started thumping as she became more and more distressed, and she got off her stool to start searching. "Kate! Tony! Where the hell are you!" she cried still, as she made her way through the corridors of the building. She turned this way and that, and soon found herself in the offices. She breathed a sigh of relief as she saw all four heads peaking over the tops of their chairs, right where they should be. She strode confidently into the bullpen, and began talking to Kate._

"_Hey Kate, nice disappearing act. How'd you manage-" She stopped short, and gasped when she saw Kate's face. It was beautiful as ever, except for the blank look in her eyes, and the small bullet hole in the middle of her forehead. Blood was starting to run down her face, and although she wanted to look away, Abby found her eyes glued to Kate's. She backed away slowly from her friend's desk, terrified of the sight, and was startled when she ran into Tony's. She managed to tear her eyes away from Kate's face, and found them instead upon Tony's, and an equally disturbing sight. His face was pale and sweaty, his lips parched dry and his skin sallow and waxy. His eyes were also open, and the glazed pupils stared straight at Abby. She turned away, unable to look at him any longer._

_But she wasn't saved- because the moment she turned she saw the corpses of both Gibbs and McGee, their wrists slashed. Blood was pouring all over the place. And not just any blood; the blood of her closest friends and colleagues. _

"_No." she whispered, her voice barely audible over the cascade of thoughts filling her head. She tried to run, but no mater which way she turned, all she saw where those eyes, all of them staring at her, into her soul , imploring her to help them. In her head she could hear their cries for help, but she couldn't move. She couldn't help. _

"_Please," she cried. "I'm sorry, I can't help." She started to cry, black mascara running down her face. All she could hear was their thoughts jumping out at her. _

"_Help us!" they cried. "You're the only one who can." Abby desperately wished them to stop. She wanted to run… to run far away. She tried to apologize, but their thoughts drowned out her own. Still she cried, and still they called; "Abby! Abby!"_

-"Abby!"

Abbie jolted upright on her stool, falling backwards from the force. She was steadied by a strong hand.

"Whoa there, Abs! You okay there?"

Abby, still trying to catch her breath, took in her surroundings. She was in the lab- her computer right in front of her, and her lab equipment all where it should be. A comforting, familiar voice had just asked her a question, which she had to answer.

"Uh… I… Ummm…." She tried to say, but couldn't quite get the words out. "I think so." She managed to say.

Gibbs frowned his infamous frown. "Another nightmare?" he asked, concerned.

Abby had two choices. She could lie and say she didn't remember, or she could come clean. Either way, Gibbs would know the truth. That man was like a lie detector.

"Ummm… yeh, but it's not important." She said, voice still trembling a little.

"Well, if you say so. What're you still doing here anyway? Its 1.30 in the morning."

"Well, what with everything that happened… y'know… with…" she couldn't say the name of the man who had killed Kate. "Well, I just got so far behind in my work. I really gotta catch up."

Gibbs observed her for a moment, clearly deciding what to say. "Go home Abs." he said. "You're exhausted. You have to get some sleep." His voice was soft, laced with concern. It was a tone not often heard from him lately.

"I can't go home Gibbs. Not till you do."

Gibbs shook his head, and Abby could see him trying to figure out the best way to win the impending argument.

"You can't change my mind Gibbs" she said stubbornly. "Until you go home and get some sleep, I'm staying here."

Gibbs used the last option open to him. The Stare. The stare that could take own Tony, Kate and McGee in only a few seconds. He held it for what seemed like hours, before he realised that she wouldn't cave. Abby could be one stubborn girl when she wanted to.

"Fine then." Gibbs said, resigned. "Just make sure you get some sleep."

Abby felt a sense of relief and achievement wash over her as Gibbs took off his jacket. If she could withstand The Stare, then she could certainly kick these nightmares. She caught the jacket Gibb threw to her. "Use that as a pillow" he said, and with that, he walked out of the room.

Abby folded the jacket up and flopped on the floor, putting the jacket beneath her head. Gibbs was right- she really needed some sleep. She was so tired. She couldn't remember the last time she'd had more than a few hours sleep. Closing her eyes, she imagined she was at home, in her nice comfy coffin. It didn't take long before she drifted off…

_Abby crept into her lab, looking for her friends again. They weren't anywhere she had looked. She looked furtively behind all her equipment, but still she turned up empty. Behind her she could hear footsteps, and turning, she found herself face to face with a monster- the monster who had infiltrated the team and stolen so much from them._

"_Hello Abigail" he said in his thickly accented voice, before-_

_BANG!_

Abby jerked awake, once again gasping for breath. She scrambled to get up off the floor

"Screw sleeping." she mumbled under her breath, and got back to work. She opened up a document, and looked at the crime scene photos sent to her by another team.

The moment she saw the first picture, her stomach turned. She literally felt sick to the stomach, and with each picture uploading onto her computer, her nausea grew worse. It wasn't the sight of the blood on the walls, nor the colour of the body; she'd seen worse than this. No, what she felt was something completely different to anything she'd felt before. In the back of her mind she felt something stirring. A memory. A dark memory that she never wanted to unveil. She'd hoped to God (who she didn't believe in) that it would stay where she'd left it- deep in her subconscious where it wouldn't bother her. But now, she couldn't avoid it. The flashes came, horrible visions of blood, pain and horror. She could feel the darkness of her past beginning to envelope her, and no matter how hard she fought it, she was paralysed. The last thought that entered her mind before she passed:

'Please. It can't be happening again.'

-Fredikayllow


	2. Chapter 2

**(A/N) **Okay, so here's Chapter 2, finally. School has gone back now, so updates will be very sporadic. Just know that I have already written several chapters, its just a matter of typing them and getting them on the site.

I apologize in advance for any mistakes. It hasn't been edited by anyone except me.

Oh, and also, if anyone happens to have any information on Abby's family, it would greatly appreciated if you could tell me, as I need it for further chapters.

Thankyou so much to those who reviewed Ch.1. Just as before, please please please leave a comment so I can make it better!

**Disclaimer: Trust me, if I owned NCIS Kate would still be alive, Abby would get some decent storylines and it would be out on DVD already! **

"Abby? Abby are you alright?"

The sound penetrated through the thick fog of unconsciousness, and Abby slowly opened her eyes. The first thing she noticed was that she was on the floor by her computer in her lab. The next thing she noticed was the presence of someone familiar- McGee. He was kneeling beside her, one hand on her shoulder, gently shaking her.

"Are you alright?" he repeated, and Abby noticed the concern in his voice.

Abby thought, trying to remember how she ended up on the floor. It had been late, she talked to Gibbs, she'd had those awful dreams and then…

Abby struggled to get up, but almost fell on her way up.

"Hey there! What happened, Abs?" McGee asked, steadying her. Abby didn't respond, unsure herself. She turned away from McGee, and found herself face to face with the photo's, still on her screen. She drew in a raspy breath, but tried to stay calm. She could feel herself starting to shake. She was vaguely aware of McGee's voice talking, and she managed to discern the words 'Samples', 'Gibbs' and 'ASAP'. But she payed the no heed, focussing solely on those photo's, and just what they meant.

She was pulled out of her trance-like state by McGee's hands on her shoulders, and suddenly she was looking into his grey eyes. She heard his voice clearly this time; a little sterner than before, but still concerned.

"Abby, what's goin-" he stopped, his face showing even more worry. "My God, you're shaking. What's wrong?"

Abby took a deep breath. "N-Nothing. I'm fine McGee." Her voice was carefree, and she tried to flash one of those smiles she knew could melt McGee, but to no avail. Trying a different approach, she wriggled out of his grasp, and turned to the samples he had brought down.

"So Gibb wants these analysed? Tell him they'll be ready in about an hour."

Abby snapped on a pair of latex gloves, and started up a few of her machines. Avoiding eye contact with McGee, she picked up a test tube half filled with soil and begun her work. She was however, still keenly aware of McGee's eyes upon her.

Are you sure you're alright? You really don't look so good."

"I'm fine McGee" Abby growled, starting to get a little annoyed. "Now you'd better get back upstairs before a Gibbs catches you goofing off. I don't think he'd be very happy."

McGee hesitated a moment before he turning and leaving- stopping again at the door, as though he was going to say something, but though better of it. Once he was gone, Abby was finally able, though sir seemed to be having difficulty reaching her lungs. She worked quickly, her breaths coming more like gasps. The samples took little more than twenty minutes to analyse, and once she had recorded her results, she set to work on her computer, installing programs she had created for a situation just like this. Glancing at the time, she saw that she only had another twenty minutes before Gibbs came looking for the results. She left a note for McGee and Gibbs, grabbed her jacket and left. There was no point putting Tony's name on the note- he hadn't shown up to work in almost two weeks and a half and there was little chance of him showing up today. As Abby fled down the corridors, she hoped she wouldn't run into anyone she knew. She desperately didn't want to get anyone else involved in what she was going to do. She couldn't lose anyone else.

McGee stepped out of the elevator, and walked into the bullpen. The whole way up, he had been thinking about Abby. He was concerned for her. She really didn't look so good, and McGee could have sworn she had been wearing the same clothes yesterday. Of course, Abby wasn't the only one who was a mess. Gibbs had clearly spent all night at work as well. Everyone was still recovering from Kate's death. It was hard. One day she's smiling, laughing, and insulting Tony, and the next she's lying down in autopsy, getting cut open by a weeping Ducky. To McGee it really made no sense. How can a being be so full of life, and then in a single instant, lose it all? How is that possible? McGee tried not to think of it. He preferred to believe that Kate was just on holidays; that any day now she would walk through those doors and get back to work. At least that way he could continue working. He couldn't fall apart- unlike some people.

Tony hadn't been to work since the day they'd killed Ari. After Kate died they had worked so hard- day and night for five days- to find the bastard that killed her. They never had time to grieve. But now Ari was dead. Gunshot wound to the forehead, put there by Gibbs himself almost two weeks ago. As soon as the bastard hit the floor, Tony had announced he was taking his three weeks bereavement leave. And no one had seen hide nor hair of him since. McGee imagined he was either wallowing in self pity, or… well that was the only likely situation. McGee knew that because that was what he secretly wanted to be doing himself. He wished he could just accept Kate's death- and take his leave, and do the wallowing thing. But no- he had to stay at work. He had to take care of Gibbs (who was a wreck) and Abby.

Not that he was doing a great job of that.

McGee's thoughts returned to the lab rat. What could be wrong with her? At first he thought she had just fallen asleep on the floor, but upon further reflection, she looked like she hadn't lain down voluntarily. She'd looked as though she collapsed, or maybe fallen. And then there was that look on her face. It came upon when she'd looked at her computer screen. It was a look he had seen only once before; on the face of Tony when he had come out onto that rooftop. It was a look of horror, despair, and something else…

Darkness.

McGee was interrupted from his thoughts by Gibbs' voice.

"Did you get those samples down to Abby?" he asked coldly.

"Yeh, she said she'd be about an hour with them." McGee said in an equally unfeeling voice. There had been sort of an unspoken agreement between the two agents since Kate. No emotion could be exhibited to or around each other. They spoke when they needed to, and never about anything other than the case they were working on. Call it Rule #13. One thing McGee had always been afraid to do was break one of Gibbs' rules, but at the moment his concern for Abby completely overrode all his other fears. She was all that mattered to them now.

"Boss," he said, a little tentatively.

"What McGee?" Gibbs barked back, peeved over the complete disregard of the rule. It frightened McGee, but not enough to put him off.

"I think something's wrong with Abby." Gibbs looked up, a look of alarm on his face. "When I went down there to drop off those samples, she was on the floor." He continued.

Gibbs' face relaxed a little. "She's barely slept in weeks McGee. I told her to sleep there."

McGee had hoped it wouldn't come to having to contradict Gibbs. In fact, he had hoped that he would never have to contradict Gibbs. The thought frightened him more than he ever would have expected. But he had to, he knew he did.

"But…Boss?" he said, trying to sound as polite as possible, and ignoring the dagger-looks he received. "It wasn't like she'd lain down. More like she fell down. And when I woke up she seemed terrified. And Boss-"

"I get it McGee!" Gibbs barked, cutting him off. For a second there was silence, and McGee assumed that to be the end of the discussion. He quietly turned back to his computer, afraid to push any further, and began on his report.

"I'll talk to her when I go collect the samples."

McGee breathed a sigh, and began typing away confidently. He knew that if anyone could get Abby to talk, it would be Gibbs.

Forty five minutes later, Gibbs stood up without a word, and McGee knew he was headed to the lab. He was confidant in his belief that the situation would sort itself out. He worked for barely five minutes before his phone rang

"Agent McGee" he answered.

"McGee, get your ass down now." Gibbs' rough voice sounded on the other end. McGee held his breath, hoping it was something to do with the case."

"Abby's gone"

No such luck.


End file.
